Coca-Cola sets 25% water efficiency target

Coca-Cola has set a target of improving water efficiency by 25% by 2020 throughout its own operations as well as those of nearly 300 bottling partners in more than 200 countries.


The company is aiming to improve on its 21.4% increase in water efficiency per litre of product produced from 2004 to 2012.

The renewed target has been set as part of a raft of environmental goals announced yesterday in an update to its ten-year old partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Coca-Cola also intends to ensure the health and resilience of freshwater systems by expanding its conservation efforts to 11 key regions across five continents, including river basins of the Amazon, Koshi, Mekong and the catchments of the Great Barrier Reef and Mesoamerican Reef.

In addition, Coca-Cola aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 25% per product. It plans to do this by reducing the greenhouse gas emissions across its entire value chain, including its manufacturing processes, packaging formats, delivery fleet, refrigeration equipment and ingredient sourcing.

The Coca-Cola Company’s chief executive officer Muhtar Kent said: “As we face a resource-stressed world with growing global demands on food and water, we must seek solutions that drive mutual benefit for business, communities and nature.”

Coca-Cola will also work with WWF to assess the environmental and social performance of plant-based materials for potential use in packaging, paving the way for it to meet its goal of using up to 30% plant-based material for all its PET plastic bottles by 2020.

WWF president and CEO Carter Roberts said: “We are witnessing unprecedented demands on natural resources around the world. Continuing with business as usual puts everything at risk, including the viability of business.

“These problems can only be solved by working together, and our work with Coca-Cola has proven that collaboration can amplify and accelerate the impact we need.”

Conor McGlone

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